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WLI Receives $15,000 Grant from Dollar General Literacy Foundation to Support Adult New Readers

Hundreds of new literacy tutors across Wisconsin will be help adults learn to read and write through a $15,000 grant to Wisconsin Literacy, Inc. (WLI) from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The grant will be used for our 1200 Tutors in 12 Weeks Campaign to recruit and train volunteer tutors at WLI’s
member agencies throughout Wisconsin. The recruitment starts Sept. 8, which is International Literacy Day, and runs to Dec 1.

“This year, as a special effort to bring attention to the campaign, we will be having our first ever Statewide READ,” according to Michele Erikson, Executive Director of WLI. “We are encouraging everyone to read the book Hotdogs and Hamburgers – Unlocking Life’s Potential by Inspiring Literacy at Any Age by Rob Shindler. Discussions and activities related to the book will be posted by WLI and a variety of our members during the campaign.”

The book gives an insider’s view of the power of literacy in transforming the lives of adult learners at Literacy Chicago, as well as the lives of the author and his family who volunteered as tutors. WLI has 75 member agencies across the state where more than 3,300 volunteer tutors give nearly 200,000 hours of tutoring each year. Most tutors volunteer one-to-three hours per week in many different areas including reading, writing, numeracy, computer and job readiness skills, and English language learning.

“It is exciting to see the impact grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation make throughout the country, especially as we cross the $100 million threshold in overall donations and the difference
it has made to nearly six million people,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “The Dollar General Literacy Foundation truly embodies the company’s mission of Serving Others
throughout the communities we serve.”